Multi-color retractable pen



' July 12, 1966 A. T. |GUoR| MULTI-COLOR RETRACTABLE PEN z Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 5, 1965 R o T N E v m ATTORNEY United States Patent Office Patented July 12, 1966 3,260,242 MULTI-COLUR RETRACTABLE PEN Alfred T. Liguori, 60 Hillcrest Drive, Pelham Manor, N.Y.

Filed Jan. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 423,531 14 Claims. (Cl. 1Z0-42.13)

The present invention relates generally to improvements in writing implements and it relates in particular to an improved multi-cartridge writing implement in which any one of the cartridges or writing elements is individually selectively advanceable to writing position and completely retractable into the body of the element.

It is frequently desirable to write information and data or to produce drawings in different and various colors. Individual pens or pencils of dierent colors have been employed to this end in the past, but such practice is awkward and inconvenient since it requires a multiplicity of duplicate implements of different colors. Many types of pens and pencils have been used and proposed, provided with different color writing elements which may be individually selectively advanced to and retracted from a writing position. While these obviate the need for a plurality of pencils, pens or crayons of different colors they possess many drawbacks and disadvantages. The cartridge advancing and retracting mechanism is generally awkward and usually difficult to operate and unreliable in operation, `complex in construction, and relatively expensive. These otherwise leave much to be desired.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide -an improved writing implement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved writing implement in which the writing element may be advanced easily from within the barrel to a writing position and retracted similarly easily and positively into the body of the implement.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved multi-cartridge writing implement having a mechanism for selectively individually advancing a writing element to a writing position and for releasing said element for its automatic return to an inoperative position in the body member of the element.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved multi-cartridge ball point pen in which the cartridges are selectively individually advanceable to their writing positions.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an improved Writing implement of the above nature characterized by its ruggedness, of simple construction, easy to operate and reliable in operation and of low cost.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is an enlarged front elevational view of a multi-cartridge ball point pen constructed according to and embodying the present invention and illustrated with all of the cartridges in retracted positions;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view thereof taken along line 2-2 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the writing implement illustrated with one of the cartridges releasably locked in an advanced writing position;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 7 illustrating the release plunger in a depressed position Iand a cartridge in an advanced released position;

FIGURE 9 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the cartridge control assembly; and

FIGURE l() is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 in FIGURE 7.

In a sense, the present invention contemplates the provision of a writing implement comprising a longitudinally extending barrel having an aperture at its leading end and openings in the trailing wall thereof and provided with first latching sections, a plurality of elongated writing elements housed in said barrel and each being individually longitudinally movable between an advanced position projecting through said leading aperture and a retracted position, spring means normally urging said writing elements toward their retracted positions, a follower engaging each of said writing elements and projecting through a corresponding wall opening and longitudinally movable therewith and provided with a second latching position transversely movable with said follower into releasable engagement with said first latching section when said follower is in advanced position, and a release member positioned in said barrel and movable between a retracted position and an advanced position in engagement with a follower in its advanced position to urge said follower transversely to a released position.

According to a preferred form 4of the present writing implement the barrel member tapers toward the aperture at the leading end, an aperture formed in a wall at its trailing end, and a plurality of peripherally spaced .longitudinal slots formed in its trailing wall. Ribs extend along the inner face of the barrel betweenv adjacent slots and have downwardly facing first latching shoulders and longitudinal grooves formed in their confronting faces. A partition provided with longitudinal bores is positioned in the barrel below the slots and the writing elements in the form of tubular ball point cartridges loosely slidely register with the bores. The follower members slideably register with confronting rib grooves and each includes a finger piece projecting through a corresponding slot, an upwardly facing second latching shoulder, and a depending plug engaging the corresponding cartridge rear opening. A helical compression spring engages each of the cartridges and is entrapped between the partition and the follower to urge the latter and the cartridge to its retracted position. When a cartridge is depressed the follower is radially inwardly movable to bring the second shoulder into underlying engagement with the lirst shoulder .and is radially outwardly movable to disengage the shoulders and release the follower. A plunger slideably registers with the barrel trailing aperture and includes longitudinally extending ribs termialong line 5 5 nating in bottom cam surfaces which, upon depression of the plunger engage a corresponding advanced follower to urge it outwardly to a released position. The plunger is provided with a downwardly facing shoulder which 1s engaged by the spring raised cartridge follower members to maintain the plunger resiliently in its raised inoperatlve position.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention as applied to a four cartridge ball point pen, it be-ing understood that the present invention is `applicable as well to other types of writing elements and of different numbers thereof, reference numeral y generally designates the improved writing implement or pen which comprises a barrel member 1-1 including separable coaxial lower and upper tubular barrel sections 12 and 13 respectively, separably connected in end-to-end relationship. Barrel sections 12 and 13 are formed of any suitable material, for example a synthetic organic plastic or metal. Lower Section 12 is provided with a tapered bottom or leading portion 14 terminating in a coaxial aperture 16. The top of lower section 12 is externally threaded as indicated at 17.

IUpper section 13 of the barrel includes a lower cylindrical portion 18 internal-ly threaded at its bottom toengage threaded .portion 17 of lower barrel section y12. Section 13 is provided at its top with an inwardly directed peripheral lip `b. Upper portion 20 of the barrel section 13 is defined by a plurality of circumferentially spaced vertical posts 21 directed upwardly from the inner face of barrel portion 18 and lip 19 and integrally formed therewith land extendin-g below lip 19 as vertical reinforcing ribs 22. Outer faces 23 of posts 21 lie in a cylindrical plane coaxial with and of somewhat less diameter than fthe outer face of barrel portion 18, and the inner faces 24 thereof converge inwardly.

A vertical rib 26 of roughly rectangular transverse cross section extends along the medial inner face of each post 21 and is provided along its inner edges with vertically extending outwardly directed lips 25, the inner faces of the vribs 26 being cylindrical. Each rib 26 terminates at its bottom in a downwardly facing horizontal irst latching shoulder 27 disposed above the lip 19. An annular top end wall 28 is integrally formed with the upper ends of posts 24 and ribs 27 and is provided with a depending peripheral lip 29 and a central leading aperture 30. The confronting faces of adjacent posts 21 delineate circumferentially spaced vertical slots 32 in barrel portion 20, the upper portions of slots 32 being relatively narrow by reason of ribs 26 and relatively wider below the iirst latching shoulders 27. Post faces 24 and the adjacent faces .of ribs 26 delineate confronting vertical grooves 33 along opposite sides of each slot 32.

A cylindrical plug or partition 34 is tightly positioned in barrel 18 directly above the threaded end thereof. Plug 34 is provided with four symmetrically spaced longitudinal bores 36. A plurality of ball point pen cartridges or elongated writing elements 37 are housed in barrel 11, and each extends through and loosely registers with a corresponding partition bore 36. Cartridges 37 are of conventional construction, each including a tubular plastic or metal ink reservoir 38 provided at its lower end with a tubular nipple 39 of reduced diameter and car-rying an exposed ball 40 at its free end. The nipple 39 is of smaller diameter than aperture 16 at the barrel end .and is slidably projectable therethrough, whereas Ithe reservoir 38 is preferably of greater diameter than the aperture 16.

Associated with and releasably engaging the upper end of each cartridge 37 and movable therewith is a follower member 40, preferably formed of a synthetic organic plastic material. Each follower 40 registers with a corresponding barrel slot 32, and includes a vertically extending elongated main body section 41 having a flat transverse inner face 42, a cylindrical -outer face 43 complementing the inside face of barrel portion 18, and inner prismatic i side faces which define vertical ribs 44 of triangular transverse cross section. Follower 41 terminates in a flat horizontal top face 46 which defines an upwardly facing second latching shoulder.

Side ribs 44 of the follower loosely engage corresponding grooves 33 of barrel portion 20 to permit the vertical sliding of the respective fol-lowers 40 and to limit inner movement thereof when in their raised positions. A finger piece `47 in integrally formed with each follower 40 and projects outwardly from the upper end thereof through a corresponding slot 32 and is provided along its outer border with `an upwardly directed lip 48 which substantially engages the outer face of the barrel end wall lip 29 when the respective follower 4t) is in its raised position. One of the `finger pieces 47 terminates at its outer end in a depending integrally formed arm 45 having a projection at its lower end directed toward the barrel 11 and defining a clip member.

Depending from each follower body member 41 and integrally formed therewith is a preferably tapered coupling plug 49 which registers with and tightly releasably engages the upper opening of a corresponding cartridge 37 and is movable therewith. A prismatic inwardly directed abutment or detent 5d is formed at the lower end of follower Vbody member 41 directly above coupling plug 49. A helical compression spring y521 engages the upper end of each cartridge 37 and is entrapped between the partition plug 34 and the respective detents 50 resili-ently to urge the corresponding cartridges 37 and followers 40 to their raised positions. It should be noted that when a follower member 40 is fully depressed against the inliuence of a spring 51, second latching shoulder 46 is below the corresponding ribs 26 and the first latching shoulders 27 and is free to move transversely inwardly to bring the second shoulders into underlying latching relationship with the iirst shoulders.

A release member or plunger 52 is coaxially positioned in the upper part of the barrel portion 2) and is vertically movable therein. Plunger 52 includes a vertical cylindrical rod 53 the upper end of which projects through barrel aperture 30 and deiines a push button 54. A plurality of circumferentially spaced Vertical splines or ribs 516 of substantially rectangular cross section are integrally formed along the medial section of the rod 53 and terminate at their bottoms in downwardly radially inwardly inclined cam faces 5'7, the outer upper edges of said cam faces 57 being in substantially vertical alignment with the inner edges of respective second latching shoulders 46 when the corresponding follower members 40 are in their rraised position, and being outwardly oiset relative thereto when the shoulders 46 are in their depressed latch positions underlying the first shoulders 27. Splines 56 register with the vertical passageways delineated by the rib wing sections 25 which have at parallel confronting faces to restrict the axial rotation of release plunger 52.

Each spline 56 terminates at its top in a -radially outwardly directed leg 58 having a downwardly directed face at the lower end thereof which is engaged by the follower shoulder 46 when the respective follower is in its raised position. Thus, release plunger 52 is resiliently maintained in raised position by the spring raised follower members 40 and requires no additional retraction spring. When plunger 52 is in its raised position, legs 58 nest in the cavity delineated by top wall 28 and depending lip 29.

Considering now the operation and employment of the multi-cartridge retractable ball point pen 1i? described above, in its inoperative position all cartridges 37 are fully retracted into barrel 11, as shown in FIGURES l to 6, and the follower members 40 are fully raised. In order to advance a selected cartridge to writing position a corresponding linger piece 47 is pushed downwardly to its lowermost position and thence pressed inwardly and released. With the downward movement of the finger piece 47 a corresponding cartridge 37 is advanced through the leading aperture 16 in barrel 12 to a writing position and the follower 40 is lowered therewith until second latching shoulder 46 is below first latching shoulders 27. At this point, follower 41 is below ribs 26 permitting its inward transverse movement to bring shoulder 46 into underlying relationship to the adjacent shoulders 27 and upon release of finger piece 47 shoulders 27 and 46 are urged into frictional latching engagement under the infiuence of a corresponding spring 51 thereby to releasably lock cartridge 37 in its writing position. In order to retract the cartridge 37 the plunger 52 is depressed by means of the push button 54 to bring a corresponding cam surface 57 into agree-ment with the inner edge of the shoulder 46 to urge it radially outwardly out of engagement with the shoulder 27 thereby to Irelease follower member 40 which, together with cartridge 37, are returned by the spring 51 to their retracted raised positions.

While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention, yit is apparent that numerous alterations, omissions and additions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A writing implement comprising a longitudinally extending barrel having an aperture at its leading end and openings in the trailing wall thereof and having formed thereon relatively fixed first latching sections, a plurality of elongated writing elements housed in said barrel and each being individually longitudinally movable between an advanced position projecting through said leading aperture and a retracted position, spring means normally urging said writing elements toward their retracted positions, a transversely movable follower connected to each of said writing elements and projecting through a corresponding wall opening and longitudinally movable with said writing element and provided with a second latching section transversely movable with said follower into releasable engagement with said first latching section when said follower is in advanced position, and a release member positioned on said barrel and movable between a retracted position and an advanced position in engagement with a follower in its advanced position to urge said follower transversely to a released position.

2. A writing implement comprising a longitudinally extending barrel having an aperture at its leading end and openings in the trailing wall thereof and provided along its upper inner face with downwardly facing first latching shoulders, a plurality of elongated writing elements housed in said barrel and each being individually longitudinally movable between an advanced position projecting through said leading aperture and a retracted position, spring means normally urging said writing elements toward their retracted positions, a follower engaging each of said writing elements and projecting through a corresponding wall opening and longitudinally movable with said writing element and provided with an upwardly facing second latching shoulder transversely movable with said follower when in its longitudinally advanced position between a latch position underlying said rst shoulder and a release position offset relative to said first shoulder, and a release member positioned on said barrel and movable between a retracted position and an advanced position in engagement with a follower in its advanced position to urge said follower transversely to a released position.

3. A writing implement comprising a longitudinally extending barrel having apertures at its leading and trailing ends and openings in the trailing wall thereof and provided along its upper inner face with downwardly facing first latching shoulders, a plurality of elongated writing elements housed in said barrel and each being individually longitudinally movable between an advanced position projecting through said leading aperture and a retracted position, spring means normally urging said writing elements toward their retracted positions, a follower engaging each of said writing elements and projecting through a corresponding wall opening and longitudinally movable with said writing element and provided with an upwardly facing second latching shoulder transversely movable with said follower when in its longitudinally advanced position between a latch position underlying said first shoulder and a release position offset Lrelative to said first shoulder, and a release plunger projecting through said trailing aperture and longitudinally movable in said barrel between a retracted position and an advanced position in engagement with a follower in its advanced position to urge said follower `transversely to a released position.

4. A writing implement comprising a longitudinally extending barrel having a tapered leading end terminating in a leading aperture and having an aperture at its trailing end and provided with 1a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending slots in the trailing wall thereof and having formed there-on downwardly facing relatively fixed first latching shoulders, a plurality of elongated Writing elements housed in said bar-rel and individually movable between an advanced position projecting through said leading aperture and a retracted position, spring means urging said writing elements toward their retracted positions, a transversely movable follower member connected to each of said writing elements and longitudinally movable therewith between an advanced and a retracted position and provided with a control element projecting ythrough land slidable along a corresponding slot and an upwardly facing second latching shoulder transversely movable with said follower member when in its advanced position between a latch position underlying said first shoulder and a release position offset relative to said first shoulder, and a release plunger projecting through said trailing apertures and longitudinally movable in said barrel between a retracted position and an advanced position in engagement with a follower member in its advanced position to urge said follower member transversely to its released position.

5. The Writing implement of claim 4, including longitudinally extending ribs disposed on the inner face of Said barrel between adjacent of said longitudinal slots and terminating at their lower ends in said first latching shoulders.

6. The writing implement of claim 5, wherein adjacent of said ribs are provided with inwardly directed confronting faces having longitudinal grooves formed therein and said follower members slidably engage said grooves.

7. The writing implement of claim 4, wherein said first shoulders are spaced inwardly relative to said second shoulders.

8. The writing implement of claim 4, wherein said release plunger is provided with upwardly outwardly inclined, downwardly directed cam surfaces movable with the advance thereof into engagement with an advance follower member whereby to urge the latter radially outwardly to effect disengagement of corresponding first and second shoulders.

9. The writing implement of claim 4, wherein said release plunger is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially projecting, longitudinally extending ribs terminating at their bottom ends in upwardly outwardly inclined cam surfaces confronting respective of said follower members.

10. The writing implement of claim 9, wherein said plunger ribs are in transverse alignment with said longitudinal slots.

11. The writing implement of claim 4, wherein said plunger is provided with downwardly facing shoulders engaging said follower members when said follower members are in retracted positions.

12. The writing implement of claim 4, including a partition member extending transversely across said barrel and having longitudinal bores formed therein, said writing elements loosely slidably registering with said bores.

13. The writing implement of claim 12, wherein said References Cited bythe Examiner spring means comprise a helical compression spring reg- UNITED STATES PATENTS istering with the upper section of each of said Writing 2,731,741 2/1957 Timmer 120 42 13 elements and entr-apped between said partition and a cor- 3,103,205 9/1963 Legnani 1Z0-42.13

lresponding follower member. 5 FOREGN PATENTS 14. The Writing implement of claim 4, wherein each of 1,2291?, 97 3 /1960 France' said follower member terminates at its lower end in a 713,345 11/1941 Germany,

coupling plug releasably engaging the upper end of a co1- responding Writing @lemen/[ LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WRITING IMPLEMENT COMPRISING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BARREL AN APERTURE AT ITS LEADING END AND OPENINGS IN THE TRAILING WALL THEREOF AND HAVING FORMED THEREON RELATIVELY FIXED FIRST LATCHING SECTIONS, A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED WRITING ELEMENTS HOUSED IN SAID BARREL AND EACH BEING INDIVIDUALLY LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE BETWEEN AN ADVANCED POSITION PROJECTING THROUGH SAID LEADING APERTURE AND A RETRACTED POSITION, SPRING MEANS NORMALLY URGING SAID WRITING ELEMENTS TOWARD THEIR RETRACTED POSITIONS, A TRANSVERSELY MOVABLE FOLLOWER CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID WRITING ELEMENTS AND PROJECTING THROUGH A CORRESPONDING WALL OPENING AND LONGITUDIANLLY MOVABLE WITH SAID WRITING ELEMENT AND PROVIDED WITH A SECOND LATCHING SECTION TRANSVERSELY MOVABLE WITH SAID FOLLOWER INTO RELEASABLE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FIRST LATCHING SECTION WHEN SAID FOLLOWER IS IN ADVANCED POSITION, AND A RELEASE MEMBER POSITIONED ON SAID BARREL AND MOVABLE BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITION AND AN ADVANCED POSITION IN ENGAGEMENT WITH A FOLLOWER IN ITS ADVANCED POSITION TO URGE SAID FOLLOWER TRANSVERSELY TO A RELEASED POSITION. 